The present invention relates generally to the parking of vehicles and more particularly to the automated parking thereof.
Commercial environments typically include parking lots to allow for customers or employees or visitors or the like to park their vehicles. In some locations, as parking becomes very difficult and there are, for example, areas designated for handicapped individuals or the executives within the company or some other way of insuring that an individual obtains parking. However, there are many environments where it is impossible to tell whether there are parking spaces except for the blanket xe2x80x9cno parkingxe2x80x9d sign at the entrance of the parking lot, for example.
Accordingly, oftentimes individuals driving a vehicle may have to search for a parking spot in the parking structure. A good example of this is when parking at an airport, airport short term or long term parking, where during the holiday season it may be very busy and the parking lot is virtually full and the occupant of the vehicle can not adequately ascertain whether a space is available. Another example is in a shopping mall area where there is limited parking in a parking structure and the user of a vehicle must search for a parking space. This can be time consuming and tedious.
Accordingly, what is desired is a system and method for allowing an occupant of a vehicle to be able to quickly and accurately park in a structure. The system must be easy to operate, must be compatible with existing systems and must be cost effective. The present invention addresses such a need.
A parking control system is disclosed. The parking control system comprises a plurality of vehicles. A portion of the plurality of vehicles occupies parking spaces in a parking lot. At least one of the vehicles is attempting to park in a parking space of the parking lot. At least one of the plurality of vehicles is capable of a two-way communication. The parking control system also includes a parking controller. The parking controller receives and provides information to the plurality of vehicles. The parking controller can communicate the most appropriate parking space to the vehicle that is attempting to park.
In a method and system in accordance with the present invention, a parking controller monitors a parking lot and can be in direct contact with the vehicles. The parking controller receives and transmits information to and from the vehicles and allows for an overall view of the parking lot to be understood. Accordingly, through the use of the parking controller system, parking is controlled more accurately and automatically.